ZeeTV HD, 'Kai Po Che' and 16:9 Nonsense !!

[technobhatt]

Today, Zee TV HD is telecasting "Kai Po Che" and here is how I would like to appreciate the channelwalas....

ZEE TV HD.... MORONS !!

I had stopped watching English Movies on channels long back; but I always look forward to watch or re-watch few good Hindi movies on Hindi Movie HD channels. It has been a fair experience watching Hindi movies on channels most of the time.

But today, I felt highly disappointed when I saw ZEE HD is telecasting "Kai Po Che" in 16:9 ratio; by cropping the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 !!
It's a total turn off, at least for me; who always like to watch movies in their original aspect ratio as the director would have intended.
Just because Zee HD wanted to show this movie in Full Screen, they cropped the ratio and now the fun is ruined, as we watch the movie with missing information on picture throughout the movie...
This is absolute nonsense. First they started this nonsense on English Movies HD channels, now the same virus is spreading to Hindi Movies HD channels as well...!!

As a movie fan, all I expect from these HD movie channels is...
- They should never tweak original aspect ratio of movies; and should always broadcast in the same ratio as it was shown in theater.
- If the movies are NOT in 16:9 ratio originally, HD channels should always place black-bars to adjust ratio. (And they have been doing all the time with Hindi Movies, but this time they screwed it up)
Please note...Almost 99% Hindi movies since last 20 years are originally made in aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with some exception of NFDC movies and few movies such as Bheja Fry 1, Dhobi Ghat made in 1.85:1 ratio originally...

Hope it's the first and last time Zee HD has done this !!

 

[prepress]

Hope it's the first and last time Zee HD has done this !!

I think this is just the beginning, I have seen mostly movies on Star Movies are full screen may be some are cropped too. I guess they just want to show that on HD channels there is no cinema scope black strips in the movies. Even realizing that the quality of Tata Sky HD channels is not good as it was earlier.

 

[technobhatt]

I think this is just the beginning, I have seen mostly movies on Star Movies are full screen may be some are cropped too. I guess they just want to show that on HD channels there is no cinema scope black strips in the movies. Even realizing that the quality of Tata Sky HD channels is not good as it was earlier.

Yes, all the English Movie HD channels are fooling viewers with their Full Screen tantrums and this way they are telecasting almost every movie in 16:9 cropped ratio, no matter what the original ratio is!!

It was never a case with Hindi Movies HD channels though.
Star Gold HD and Zee Cinema HD have shown almost all movies in original aspect ratio. Few exceptions are there but very few.
For example: Star Gold HD has shown Don(Amitabh movie) in 16:9 ratio, but it was a decent HD version.
ZeeCinema HD is showing 99% movies in correct ratio except few old movies which are originally in 4:3 ratio, but channel has shown them in 16:9 cropped version...such as Deewar, Coolie.
Also, once I saw ZeeHD showed 'Peepli Live' in 16:9, but it's original ratio is 2.35:1.

The problem seems like, these channels have employed some mindless fellows who don't understand the grammar of movie aspect ratio and thus they have screwed viewers' experience.

Here is today's twitter rant on Zee HD channel and Film's director 'Abhishek Kapoor'. But nobody seems to care about these things. Film Makers and Channelwalas are just interested in making money. They don't give a damn to viewers' experience !!

 

[prosenjit]

sometimes i think why i bought the hd box...
a media player at that price is a wiser buy..
same here..i have stopped also cinema viewing in channels

 

[askii2]

16:9 isn't necessarily bad. There are pros as well as cons. I used to prefer original aspect ratio until some time ago. However am now of the opinion that 16:9 is better because it gives us more movie pixels. This will be valid until we get to 4K format, which is still a few years away.

 

[technobhatt]

16:9 is better because it gives us more movie pixels.

So you seem to fall in trap !!
You ready to compromise Movie Image just for Few More Pixels ?
Don't you feel a character's body parts or few objects chopped out?

And as far as I understand, if we are cropping an image it may increase the pixels but degrades the image quality... (ohh..that way you can really see some pixels on image, ain't it?)

 

[baijuxavior]

I stopped watching hd movie channels for the same reasons. I am comfortable with black bars, but not stretched body parts. Another thing I hate is statutory warning like 'Tobacco Kills' that popup in the exact middle of the movie.

 

[prepress]

Star Gold HD and Zee Cinema HD have shown almost all movies in original aspect ratio. Few exceptions are there but very few. For example: Star Gold HD has shown Don(Amitabh movie) in 16:9 ratio, but it was a decent HD version.
ZeeCinema HD is showing 99% movies in correct ratio except few old movies which are originally in 4:3 ratio, but channel has shown them in 16:9 cropped version...such as Deewar, Coolie.
The problem seems like, these channels have employed some mindless fellows who don't understand the grammar of movie aspect ratio and thus they have screwed viewers' experience.

Yes, But we are not sure they will not modify the aspect ratio in future. Definitely they have employed some mindless fellows who don't understand about all these technical things. May be they are just like a machine operator.

I stopped watching hd movie channels for the same reasons. I am comfortable with black bars, but not stretched body parts. Another thing I hate is statutory warning like 'Tobacco Kills' that popup in the exact middle of the movie.

Agree, they should telecast the programs as it was original, in this way who like the black cinema scope strips they can view in that way, others who want to ruin or comfortable to zoom/adjust the picture as per their preference.
As a wise audience we can bear that Tobacco Kills warning, but better if instead of stopping the movie for this, they put that (a kind of slogan) at the bottom of screen in the movie.

 

[technobhatt]

For those, who still don't understand this 16:9 nonsense for movies...

Here is the demonstration...

Original aspect ratio - 2.35:1 -- This image was taken by a fellow(IndianMascot) when the ads were aired for the movie..

Same Image in a Cropped 16:9 Full Screen ratio

 

[just4kix]

I rarely watch movies on TV. Period. The reasons are quite a few:

- as stated above, cropped picture
- censored shots ... love scenes, initimate kissing, etc. just butchered away
- censored words ... even perfectly normal words such as "dog", "bitch", "shit" is censored ... it is alright if Dharmendra says "Kutte ... Kamine" but English equivalents are taboo
- anti-smoking and anti-drinking banners and subtitles while movie is running
- long ad breaks

I also wonder whether TV subscription is really worth?

- News channels? Ah! you mean cheap entertainments?
- Hindi entertainment? What's there beside cheap soaps?
- English entertainment? Have you heard what the controversy is around Comedy Channel and all the crap mentioned above applies here too.
- Movies? Don't mention them

This leaves only the information channels such as NatGeo, AP, Discovery, TLC, History, etc. which I find useful.

 

[prosenjit]

- censored shots ... love scenes, initimate kissing, etc. just butchered away


I also wonder whether TV subscription is really worth?

also some actions scsenes where some bloodsplit is shown..is cut away..as violence etc...

really tv subscription is not worth it..
lets reveal a secret..i recharge only when a regional comedy show is on air for 4 months(thats really a nice show)..other 8 months i dont..and i do have a hard time with wife over the matter:lol:

 

[technobhatt]

@just4kix: That's alright...but I created this thread in general for lot of Hindi Movie fans like me, who still watch or revisit few good Hindi movies on TV channels...
As a matter of fact, Crores of Indians still prefer watching movies on TV, in case they miss those in Theaters. Only very few like us are there.. who spend on DVD/BD or look to internet for better viewing options.

The only intent of this thread is...to minimize the absurdity going around.
If we don't complain, these film-makers, TV channels and everybody else will take us for ride.
These guys should know that viewers do understand their nonsense !!

 

[just4kix]

@just4kix: That's alright...but I created this thread in general for lot of Hindi Movie fans like me, who still watch or revisit few good Hindi movies on TV channels...
As a matter of fact, Crores of Indians still prefer watching movies on TV, in case they miss those in Theaters. Only very few like us are there.. who spend on DVD/BD or look to internet for better viewing options.

The only intent of this thread is...to minimize the absurdity going around.
If we don't complain, these film-makers, TV channels and everybody else will take us for ride.
These guys should know that viewers do understand their nonsense !!

Best way to complain is to stop watching! Boycott in a sense. That is my take, at least. What say you?

 

[technobhatt]

Best way to complain is to stop watching! Boycott in a sense. That is my take, at least. What say you?

That's like running away from problem IMO !! (We are 99% already doing that)
I can do that, you can do that...how about Crores of other viewers who don't prefer paying for DVD/BD or going to theater for watching movie.

So let's raise the problems as much as we can; because these are the things I assume can be sort out easily by these channels (Here in this case...the aspect ratio problem)...
And I have done some part of it personally as well such as...
- Issues of DTH logo being placed properly so that we don't loose important info on screen (scorecard on a sport channel)
- Audio quality getting corrected on few HD channels in Airtel DTH, where Airtel was butchering Dolby audio with DRC.

If you don't raise it now...sooner or later this will be a norm and then we will loose the right to speak against anything...(probably like the political scenario in India...we keep on whining like a little bitch, but when it comes to cast vote, people are busy visiting shopping mall on election day)

 

[prepress]

Yes, that shows that they have removed the black stripes, and obviously they have to crop the scene propotionately and final result is this. Overall what we need is, telecast what was captured by director.

For those, who still don't understand this 16:9 nonsense for movies...

Here is the demonstration...

Original aspect ratio - 2.35:1 -- This image was taken by a fellow(IndianMascot) when the ads were aired for the movie..

Same Image in a Cropped 16:9 Full Screen ratio

 

[rahuln]

IMO, if a movie is properly converted to 16:9 then it's not such a bad thing. Most of the English movies are not cropped but reformatted to suit the 16:9 ratio. With this you will not get the chopped body parts or important portion hidden. I do agree that if it's blind chop then it will ruin the fun.

 

[just4kix]

IMO, if a movie is properly converted to 16:9 then it's not such a bad thing. Most of the English movies are not cropped but reformatted to suit the 16:9 ratio. With this you will not get the chopped body parts or important portion hidden. I do agree that if it's blind chop then it will ruin the fun.

No. I humbly beg to disagree. There is no way a 2.35:1 movie be 'reformatted' to fit 1.78:1 ratio while keeping the image non-distorted. Many movies are shown on star movies HD where I can immediately tell the cropping because I have the originals.

 

[htfan17]

No. I humbly beg to disagree. There is no way a 2.35:1 movie be 'reformatted' to fit 1.78:1 ratio while keeping the image non-distorted. Many movies are shown on star movies HD where I can immediately tell the cropping because I have the originals.

+1 Agree with the disagreement I guess the poster 'rahuln' is referring to the extremely few cases in which the black bar matte was opened up to reveal more image for home video as done for films like Avatar etc ...infact thats the only film i can recall as of now of of being done that way, (in hindi Khosla ka ghosla was one case). Titanic was opened up for its re-release theatrical 3D version but channels still continue showing the old version with cropped image.

But it is 100% correct that except in case of films that are originally shot in 16:9 (1.85:1) which is also the case with ~70% animated films, studios/channels do not do the hard work of proper reformatting of an original 2.35:1 image.

Small example, one of the negatively affected films was 'The incredible hulk'. In some instances that the character is trying to stay in control of his anger (which is exactly what the character is all about), there is a display showing 'no. of days without incident XX' This display gets completely cropped in Star movies HD and what we hear is just the soudn of the diaplay occurring. May be its a minor thing for most audiences (helll... i doubt how many will even notice) but for avid movie buffs, the final word is 'IT MATTERS'.

I too recorded Kai Po che HD with high excitement as i missed in theatres but was terribly disappointed with the fiasco in question.

Screw u Zee. Relatively, long live Star Gold HD the best in Indian HD movie broadcasts as far as original aspect ratio and 5.1 audio is concerned. On sunday they showed 'Om Shanti Om' and it felt so good to see it being so darn close to how it was intended to be watched. Sony is still bad because though its aspect ratio is right, they do not provide 5.1 audio. This really sucks considering they have rights to well mixed movies like E T Tiger, JTHJ and above all Talaash - A sound designer's heaven.

 

[just4kix]

I rarely watch movies on TV. Period. The reasons are quite a few:

- as stated above, cropped picture
- censored shots ... love scenes, initimate kissing, etc. just butchered away
- censored words ... even perfectly normal words such as "dog", "bitch", "shit" is censored ... it is alright if Dharmendra says "Kutte ... Kamine" but English equivalents are taboo
- anti-smoking and anti-drinking banners and subtitles while movie is running
- long ad breaks

I also wonder whether TV subscription is really worth?

- News channels? Ah! you mean cheap entertainments?
- Hindi entertainment? What's there beside cheap soaps?
- English entertainment? Have you heard what the controversy is around Comedy Channel and all the crap mentioned above applies here too.
- Movies? Don't mention them

This leaves only the information channels such as NatGeo, AP, Discovery, TLC, History, etc. which I find useful.

Ah! I said the above to my wife and pat came the retort, "Why did you purchase a 1L TV then?".

Lesson learnt: Never open your loud mouth in front of the better half unless you are acrobating to swallow your foot.

 

[htfan17]

Barfi tomorrow on Zee HD. Hoping there is no nonsense this time as from the trailers it seems the AR is right. But of all the reasons, why oh why Zee HD cant get true 5.1 (for movies at least) and still getting the chance to world premiere a fantastic audio driven movie like Barfi shocks me.

PS: I just realised seeing the above SS that AR was right in kai Po che trailers as well. So I am still worried.